The Associated Press

Days after the Washington Supreme Court ruled an effort to recall the mayor of Pacific can move forward, opponents have turned in signatures they hope will force a recall vote.

Members of the Committee to Recall Cy Sun turned in, by their count, 580 signatures Monday morning at the King County Elections office.

The committee says if 415 of the signatures are verified, Pacific could hold a special election in late June or early July.

“We are proud of the people of Pacific for what they’ve done,” said recall supporter Don Thomsen.

Sun has been at odds with the Pacific City Council from the day he took office in 2012.

He won a write-in campaign vowing to clean out what he termed “corruption” at City Hall.

His predecessor, Richard Hildreth, in a news release Monday, said Sun’s claims of corruption are false.

“The Washington State Auditor’s office as well as many other investigations have repeatedly shown that his claims of corruption are without merit. The Washington State Auditor’s office has conducted audits of each of my years in office and made no findings,” Hildreth wrote.

A King County Superior Court judge approved two charges against Sun in the recall petition: that he used the Police Department as his personal force, and that he risked the town’s liability insurance by not filling department-head vacancies.

“If the voters believe these allegations to be true, the allegations show that Sun exercised his discretion in a manifestly unreasonable manner,” a trial court ruled.

Supreme Court justices agreed. In a unanimous ruling Thursday, the high court noted that Sun had abused his authority in directing the Police Department to investigate his political enemies, has been arrested for interfering in a crime scene and has failed to fill key vacancies in the city government.

Sun’s attorney, Tyler Firkins, argued that the mayor has simply been trying to clean up the city and has done nothing wrong.

“The judge disagreed with our position, so we’re going to take a look at what we’re going to do next, but the mayor is going to continue in his efforts to reform the city,” Firkins said.

Sun is also facing a civil lawsuit filed by the city’s former police chief and four officers who were fired or forced out by the mayor.